Analysis of issue

This topic has expert replies
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 146
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:13 pm
Thanked: 1 times

Analysis of issue

by s_raizada » Sat Jun 14, 2008 1:40 pm
“All groups and organizations should function as teams in which everyone makes decisions and shares
responsibilities and duties. Giving one person central authority and responsibility for a project or task is not an
effective way to get work done.”
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above? Support your views with reasons and/or
specific examples drawn from your own work or school experiences, your observations, or your reading.



While there are some benefits of working together, in my view individual responsibility and authority are the best way to get work done. In the following paragraphs I will support my position.

First, working as a team can be very unproductive, because it requires collaboration between the team members. After working in the industry for above 10 years one thing I have found is that agreements and disagreements during team meetings can be very unproductive. For example, when you go to a meeting all the people give their own view even though they may not have the knowledge or skills to contribute effectively to the problem. This leads to lengthy and fruitless discussions. Moreover, the time spent conductive these meetings is not very productive. For example it may be possible that only two members of the team contribute to solve the problem during a team meeting where as all other members of the team sit there and just listen to the discussion.

Secondly, common sense tells me that if people are allowed to work in teams without any individual accountability and responsibility then the jobs never get done. For example, I work in software industry where we have to work under tight deadlines. Under such circumstances if team working is required for each and every task then the budget and project schedule will overrun.

Finally, everyday experience tells me that all individual are not the same. Each individual has specific skills he or she is good at. For example some individual are very good at preparing the presentations where as other are very good at writing technical documents. Therefore it would make sense to give each individual responsibility according to his or her skills rather than to the whole team. Another example is in the area of financial analysis where individuals with highly specialized skills are required for financial data analysis. These tasks are not suitable for team working.

Admittedly, team working can sometimes provide quicker solutions to a problem because each member of team working on a problem rather than an individual. However, experience tells me that even in these meeting someone with authority is required to steer the discussion in the right direction and analyze the solutions proposed by the team.

In sum, team working has some advantages but individual responsibility and accountability are the important aspects that get work done in an organization.

GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1223
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 3:29 pm
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 185 times
Followed by:15 members

by VP_Jim » Sun Jun 15, 2008 6:19 pm
Hi s_raizada,

I think you are on the right track with the format of your essay and the examples you used, but here are my thoughts:

I always recommend writing one introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion for each essay. For each body paragraph, you should include one specific real world example, and each example should be a proper noun (name, place, work of literature, company, etc.). For instance, when you mentioned the software company you worked at, you could perhaps state the name of the company. Lastly, try not to use the first person pronouns ("I," "me," "we," etc.), even though it makes it little tougher.

Try to make the time to proofread your essay before you submit it; your spelling in general looks good, but pay attention to subject/verb agreement (for example, writing "all individuals are not the same" instead of "all individual").

Good luck, and hope this helps!
Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep